The company may either go in for two vessels in the mid-size segment or for a single ship if it is comparatively new and young, depending on the various options available then, he added.

On the timing of the rights issue, which was cleared by the Securities and Exchange Board of India more than nine months back, Mr Mehta said that the company had consciously kept out of the market and waited for the opportune time to enter the market.

However, the company can go in for a second-hand ship acquisition, subject to the amendment in the exim policy in April this year. The amendment, which is likely, is to eliminate the anomaly towards acquiring second hand ships occurred in the last exim policy.

The company will issue 3,62,61,591, 14 per cent unsecured fully convertible debentures of Rs 10 each at par aggregating Rs 36.26 crore in the ratio of one unsecured fully convertible debenture for every one equity share held.

Mr Mehta expressed confidence on the rights issue on account of an uninterrupted track record of dividend for the last 17 years with minimum dividend during the time being not below 14 per cent. Coupled with the book value in excess of Rs 40 per share and a net asset value of Rs 52, the offer is up for grabs, he added.

Net asset value for a shipping company is the shipping assets less its liabilities, since ships are liquid assets and are tradeable like any other instrument.

Internationally, shipping companies are valued at their net asset value which investors in India are unfortunately not aware off, he said.The promoters of VSCL, along with their associates, hold close to 40 per cent while institutions hold 15 per cent and the rest is held by the public. The company currently has a fleet of 11 ships including one ship on management basis taken over from a group company. In addition, the company also has a wholly owned subsidiary in Singapore which has a fleet of two off shore vessels.